Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America’s Greatest Threat is a documentary that focuses on the growing trend of America expanding its waistline. I found this docu. very intriguing and though provoking. It starts out with a 12 year old girl who weighs 218lbs. Like her I was heavy at that age. I was about 180lbs at 12 years of age but unlike her I didn’t go through liposuction. Her parents agreed that instead of trying to make her exercise more, eat the right foods, and education, they decided to let her have this risky procedure done at such an early age.
Now I am not against procedures like this, but at such an early age I still think there is time to break such a horrible eating lifestyle. It just can’t be left up to the child. It needs to be enforced by the parents and reinforced by the schools. But the school are enticed by money thrown at them from the junk food industry. Again, it is not entirely the fault of junk foods, and parents, the school, advertising. It does come down to personal responsibility. People need to accept responsibility for what they put in their mouths and the exercise they do or not do. If they don’t then they have no one else to blame but themselves.
Did my parents eat fatty and sugary foods while growing up? Yes. Well, my dad did. My mom grew up in the Philippines. She didn’t come from a rich family so they mostly ate fish and rice. They didn’t own a car so they walked everywhere. My dad who grew up outside of Pittsburgh ate candies and soda pop of course, but he did have to walk to the other side of town to go to school. And unlike today how we have all this media interference with TV, computers, game consoles, my dad actually had to go outside and play for entertainment. Today our kids are picked up right in front of our house, brought to school where they sit for the majority of the day, then come back home and get back on the computer to chat with their friends on facebook or tweet their day on twitter. According to the documentary, when the No Child Left Behind act went into effect, programs like gym class or extra curricular activities like sports were the first be cut in order to get the children to pass their year. The government saw physical education as a non-importance when in actuality gym class may be the only exercise out children are getting.
When my mom grew up she was thin. Healthy and thin. When she met my dad she was 90lbs at 19 years old. she is only 5’1. When my mom had my brother she gained 90lbs and hit 180. she lost alot of weight like 50 lbs then she had me. She I was born she was around 150lbs. My mom was heavier. Considered overweight but not by alot. She was healthy. But as she stayed in the State longer and longer her weight ballooned up to 225-230lbs. The food that we have here is IMMENSE. Sugary and Fatty goodness. Right now she is suffering from Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis due to her weight.
The documentary also touches on the subject of the rise in Type II diabetes in our children today. This is an epidemic because this will lead to greater health risks in the future which will lead to higher health insurance costs ( and we all know about the health insurance fiasco here in America). The one problem i Have with this is that there are people and organizations that make being Fat/Obese is ok and should be accepted. Organizations like The NAAFA http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/ make it seem like it is OK to be Obese. It is not. Its not healthy. Of course people can say you can still be healthy if they are overweight, but the acceptance of people being morbidly obese should not be accepted. It should be discouraged to ever get that big. I think people should accept people no matter what the size, color, culture, sexuality, etc., but they should never encourage or accept an unhealthy lifestyle.
In America we have labeled the body in weight terms. It is sad that we have to keep adding heavier weight labels as the years go on and the waistline expands. We have skinny, thin, normal, overweight, fat, obese, morbidly obese, super obese, and now super super obese. This is just disgusting. We should not be adding more adjectives and medical terms for the heavier weight that we in America are getting to. It should be stop, discouraged, and people need to realize that it is no ones else’s fault but the person who puts the food in their mouth. People need to stop using the excuses of eating Healthy is too much money, I have no time to exercise, fast food is just easier. Take a minute to prioritize your life. Put your health and your families health first. Take initiative to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day (walk the dog, dance, clean the house, etc). If you eat fast food, don’t do it everyday. One normal value meal can have up a WHOLE days worth of caloric intake. about 1800 calories a value meal. if you are going to eat a value meal eat a child’s meal because a kids meal is a NORMAL portion for an ADULT…not a child. It’s all about moderation. Yes you can have a slice of cake, but realize you need to exercise to work off those calories. We also need to realize our portion control. Fast food joints and restaurants in general do not give you the correct amount of portion. They over portion your food because we as a people want more for our money. But Portion control and regular exercise is a great way to help combat this epidemic. Here are two websites that I found very informative & helpful; Portion Plate and Portion Size.
This epidemic needs to be taken more seriously and we all need to take responsibility for ourselves and what we put in our mouths. If you have Netflix you can watch this documentary right on your computer.
Tags: childhood obesity, Dieting, fat, obesity, personal responsibility, weight epidemic, weight loss
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